Dr. Don T. Phillips is an academician with a career that spanned over 45 years. He has contributed to industrial and systems engineering in the areas of manufacturing, operations research, and lean engineering. He is an elected Fellow of the Institute of Industrial Engineers for professional leadership and outstanding contributions to industrial engineering. He is author or co-author of 10 other books and over 120 technical articles published in scholarly journals and professional conference proceedings. Phillips earned a BSc degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Lamar University, and an MS and PhD degree from the University of Arkansas. His research and teaching areas include manufacturing systems analysis, operations research, lean manufacturing, systems simulation, product cost analysis and the design remanufacturing/sustainment systems.

Dr Phillips was co-author and lead author for the Joint Publishers Book-of-the Year award for Operations Research: Principles and Practice, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 1976: The David F. Baker Distinguished Research Award, Institute of Industrial Engineers, 1989; and the Halliburton Award of Excellence in1990. He was the Chevron Distinguished Professor at Texas A&M University for 15 years. In 2015 he was co-author of the International Book of The Year award in Lean Manufacturing from the Shingo Institute. In 2010 he was named Engineer of the Year and was given a Lifetime achievement award by the State of Texas for contributions in the field of Industrial Engineering. He is currently Distinguished Research Professor at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas.